Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis Talk About Women’s Wrestling, Who They Respect in the Business, CM Punk, Kevin Steen and More

​As we reported, ROH star Mike Bennett and his fiance, former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis have started a new podcast called Mike & Maria in Wonderland. In the debut episode, the couple talks about Bennett not getting the respect he deserves from fans in the pro wrestling business.

Mike: I've only been doing it for 12 years … I think it has to do with a mixture of things. A lot of it has to do with how I wrestle; I lot has to do with who I know in wrestling. It's complicated thing. I didn't really get national publicity until the last 3-4 years, and people didn't know I existed, but I did. I was on the indies for 9 years before I got my Ring of Honor contract.

Maria: Well for one, you're a heel …

Who does Bennett look up to in the wrestling business?

I think Kevin Steen is amazing. I think he deserves to make a million dollars in wrestling. I didn't see it until I started with Ring of Honor, but he's the top guy in ROH and I admire him. Kevin Kelly has helped me out and I respect his opinion … This is going to sound weird because I know a lot of indie fans think he sucks, but I admire Cena. Being the top guy for that guy for that long… I admire Punk for how he got there; I don't think we're in similar boats, but I understand where he comes from. I've always been told 'oh you're just a WWE guy' but no, I'm not. I respect wrestling and I love Ring of Honor.

How does Maria like Ring of Honor compared to WWE?

I've been having more fun than I've ever had in my entire career. I like to be challenged. I don't like to have just the one line, or the two lines that I had with WWE. I have a lot more to offer than that, and I always felt that I could do more. There's also some exciting things on the horizon with myself and Ring of Honor, and I can't say more about that at this time.

Maria on the state of women's wrestling right now:

I feel like there are two, maybe three girls running the show, and everyone is is garnish on the plate. I'm not good at being garnish, so I can only imagine how it feels to be in that position. When I was younger I was good at it. But now I want to be the main event. Now if there's going to be a girl's division, I want to be the top dog, and if I can't be the top dog I have no interest in being there, no matter how much money they are paying me. So in a lot of ways, I feel like it was a blessing in disguise, what happened to be earlier this year with the Bella Twins.

Bennett on the difference between fans and wrestlers, and what frustrates him about pro wrestling fans these days:

I've had this argument with wrestling fans. They say, 'If I order steak at a restaurant and it sucks, I know that it sucks and I should send it back.' Yes well, you yourself don't know how to cook a steak. That's why you're out to eat. If you knew how to cook a good steak, you'd be back there yourself. You're buying a product, you have the right to say 'this sucks' or 'I like this'. What bothers me is when they start talking how a wrestler looks in the ring or 'he looks sloppy' or "if I were booking I would do this' – well you're not booking. You don't know what a booker goes through. I don't come to your job and tell you how to do your job.